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@ gschaut
I think you are

@ gschaut

I think you are preaching to the choir here.

That's why Lauren and I correctly use the B setting, when appropriate, based on conditions and power pack levels, descending our long steep mountain grades (Berthoud Pass for Lauren from Winter Park (I love Mary Jane) and Hoosier Pass for me. Believe it or not, some of the rest of us do read the manual, have specific driving training, and do use the car's functions properly. All I said is that is that the B setting emphasizes deceleration, which is true. I was extolling regenerative braking, the effect that occurs when you lift your foot from the accelerator, separately. You just showed why professional real world driver training is important. Too much is lost in translation just reading and writing.

By the way, it snowed a foot and a half the other night, before the plows could get to it. At the building where I work, only two people out of over 200 made it to work the next morning, both from Vermont, one of whom drives a Prius. Today there were only two cars again, this time both were Prii.

I'm having my first winter

I'm having my first winter driving experience with my new Prius and it really does seem to take a unique approach. It's been a bit embarassing (which is not good for the Prius name). Glad to get advice re: the OEM tires but I was hoping to use them for one winter. Up here in BC we so rarely get any major snowfall that I"m hesitant about the snowtires - maybe if I switch to a better all season I'll be better off next winter.

Here in Wisconisn we are

Here in Wisconisn we are having record snowfall. The most snow in December since 1887.

The traction control is driving me crazy. It's been so slushy around here that I can't get away from a stop light or into moderatly heavy traffic without fear of getting clobbered. It just seems to stay at 3-7 mph with the tires slipping.

A car geek budy of mine recommended snow tires. I've seen the Blizaks mentioned a couple other places. Any other recomendations for snow tires?

This morning, I was turning

This morning, I was turning onto my street in my Prius. To my surprise (I was moving at a mere twelve miles an hour), the car continued to move in a straight line all the way into a street sign. Probably not the car's fault, but the tires seem to be absolutely terrible for winter driving.

I couldn't agree more with

I couldn't agree more with your comments. I have been driving for about 24 years. I have had two Honda Civics and a Ford Focus . I never had a problem driving them in the wintry conditions with these small front wheel drive cars. The Prius scares me to death. I live in Central Indiana where deep snow is a rarity, but light snow and ice are common. The most of my problems are with light snow and ice. My biggest problem is getting the Prius to stop. It seems like the anitlock brakes aren't even working. I never hear that typical antilock brake sound. I slow down and start to brake, the traction control light comes on, and I'm sliding, sliding, sliding. I let up on brake, try again (more forcefully i.e. like they say you should for an antilock brake), sliding, sliding then I'm basically standing on the break pedal hoping not to hit the car in front of me. I have resorted to driving in the "B" braking assist mode when ever it is the least bit slick. I know I'm ready for new tires, but I had this problem when the car was new. I will be buying new tires today. Strangely, when there is a good snow cover on the road, I have no problem.

Can someone tell me how to drive this car in the winter?

Otherwise, it's going up for sale. Having a serious accident isn't worth my average of 47-50 mpg.

My wife's Prius does slide a

My wife's Prius does slide a bit in the snow, but overall it's nothing too bad. We've had a pretty bad winter already and we usually take her car when we go out in the weather. I do drive pretty slow in snow/icy conditions letting the car coast to about 8 or 9 MPH before even applying the brakes. This works pretty well but I still slide occasionally. I think all cars take some getting used to driving in general especially in winter weather and the Prius is no different.

I definitely notice that the Prius is more prone to sliding than is my Honda Civic Hybrid. That car seems to stop pretty well even if I'm going a bit too fast when I apply the brakes.

Overall I have no real issues with the Prius in snow, other than cleaning it off when it's been sitting out during the snowfall.

ujipa
We live in central

ujipa

We live in central vermont. Put snow tires on the Prius and it's performance is still pretty bad in snowy condiitons. Totally lose power going up snowy hills. Don;t feel safe driving it if more than several inches on the ground. Don;t believe any of the above posts which praise it;s performance in snow. Also, gas mileage goes way down in cold weather. This car is great if you live in southern Cal or Florida.

I live in Omaha and own a

I live in Omaha and own a 2008 Prius (purchased in fall of 2007). This is my second winter driving season. Omaha has hills and I am having more trouble this year (2009) with slip-sliding around. It feels like I have no tread on the tires. The car mileage is 20,000 miles. I have read with interest other's views about driving on ice & snow covered roads. I too have been unable to get up my driveway, which is incline of under 12 inches. The drive has to be perfectly clear. Sand helps. I called Toyota. They were no help. Said we just have ice and snow. I plan to buy snow tires next winter. I am carrying two, 70 lb bags of sand in the back-end, which helps a little. Otherwise, car runs great. Turn off AC in summer and mileage jumps up to 55-62.

I live in NYC and have a

I live in NYC and have a 2005 Prius. Once in a while we get snow dumps that immediately proceed to melt and the freeze overnight. I never have problems when I drive carefully.

Becky, do you have VSC? This may help. In fact, a month ago I believe VSC has saved me from an accident. I was driving on a highway about 65-70 mph when an ice storm started. The roadway got quickly covered with frozen slush. There was an accident in front of me, and all traffic suddenly stopped. I had to brake abruptly. The car swayed from side to side with effort, but did stop and did not seriously slide. This was quite impressive, actually.

I ski, and so my problem with my Prius is that I cannot go to the mountains when it snows. The Prius just cannot plow through deep snow. I've gotten stuck several times. (I did manage to take my Prius up some seriously frozen hills w/o deep snow on them.)

This is actually pretty sad for me -- I love my Prius, but it's preventing me from getting into the mountains during snow storms. Renting an SUV in NYC on short notice is almost impossible and very expensive.